delayed gratification works too
by cpt-stvngrntrgrs
Summary: Prompt: "Natasha fights with Steve purposely to hide the surprise dinner for their first Valentine's Day together. More fluff and sexual tension are welcome!" I got this prompt from @castielgurl on Tumblr for Valentine's Day. Enjoy! WARNING: Mature, explicit content by the end.


Natasha woke up to Steve's arm wrapped around her waist and her back pressed closely on his stomach, and him placing soft kisses on her bare shoulder. "Morning," he whispered huskily once he felt that she was awake. They are so attuned in so many ways that it can be freaky.

She turned around and threw her leg over his hips, draping her arm arm across him, holding onto his back. "Mornin'," she greeted back. She pressed her lips against his, slowly, gently nipping at his lower lip and eventually deepening the kiss. Her hand clawed at his back as he proceeded to pepper kisses on her neck, sucking at spots that he knows Natasha loves.

Natasha took a deep breath. She can do this. Despite every nerve in her body begging her to stay in bed, she tried moved away from Steve, "Steve," she said, urgently, a signal that she wants him to stop. "I've got to get up."

"Can you stay a little longer, please?" he asked, sweetly, and tightens his hold on her. She shook her head and stood up swiftly, walking to the bathroom, where Steve followed him like a lost puppy. "Nat, come on. Can we go back to bed?" he pouted.

"No," was Natasha's curt reply before shoving her toothbrush in her mouth and brushing her teeth. She's so heartbroken to see Steve looking down, it's almost like a crime. He's always been cautious, in a way, of his actions ever since Natasha moved to his apartment from the Stark tower just three months ago, two months after they decided to make their relationship 'official'. They'd gotten off at a rocky start, with both of them having their own personal demons to deal with, but they eventually worked it out, and are both very happy, and Natasha had to remind herself that this night had to be perfect in order to keep herself from running towards Steve and hugging him tight.

She hurriedly put on a pair of jeans as Steve watches her like a hawk. "I thought you didn't have anything on your schedule today," he broke the silence between them.

"I have a last minute thing," Natasha answered back. There's nothing more she hates in the world than lying to him, but she has to in order to make her plan work.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I mean you know today is…" he said, then trailed off and stopped talking. He looked dejected that Natasha has to stop glancing at him in order to get herself out of there.

"Yeah well I didn't have to tell you everything-" Natasha cursed the moment those words were out of her mouth. And she can see the effect it has on Steve too, with him flinching. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-" Natasha quickly quipped, but it was too late, and Steve is already shaking his head and standing up.

"It's okay, I get it," was his short reply before walking towards the kitchen and making himself coffee.

Natasha let out a variety of curses in Russian and quickly finished getting dressed, grabbing her stuff from the closet and stopping by the kitchen. "I'm gonna go…" she said quietly to Steve, who just nodded without looking up at her.

She hates this. She knows how much Steve gets affected when she shuts herself out- they had a fight about it before. Well, that was mostly her fault, she did get shot and didn't tell Steve about it, which is what she had to do since: one, he is the Captain and therefore, responsible for everyone, and two, they are dating, so she should've let him known that she was hurt. But she didn't, and he had to know about it from Sam slipping up, and she got mad when he confronted her, saying the exact same words she just said to him. She was used to briefing missions and assessing her injuries with a nurse, not someone who actually cared about her.

Once she got to Stark Tower, she headed straight to the gym for her daily workout, thinking about her plan as she goes through her routine. She knows Steve's schedule is pretty much empty for the day, except for a quick meeting with Sam and Scott a bit later in the day. She still couldn't shake off the heartbroken look he had on earlier and just hopes that he'll forgive her later on. After finishing her last set of pushups, she stood up to get ready to leave.

On her way to the shower room, she texted Sam, reminding him to keep Steve busy and don't let him come home until 6 pm. Sam already knew about this since Natasha has told him about it in order to keep Steve away from their apartment while she takes care of the surprise. After she was done showering, she continued up the Tower, ready to talk to Pepper about an event Stark Enterprises are holding.

Her meeting with them took until after lunch, but once it was over, Natasha got out of there right away, making her way to buy some groceries for their dinner that night. She took out her list and bought the raw ingredients for the recipes she found online. Between the two of them, Steve is the cook, while she watches on and tries to distract him while cooking. So, as consolation, she will cook tonight, all by herself and without burning down the kitchen, hopefully, and she just has to pray that Steve loves her enough to actually eat her cooking. Once satisfied with what she has, she grabbed two bottles of vodka and a bottle of wine to top everything off, and she went home, ready to cook.

When she got home, Natasha first made sure that Steve wasn't there and began cleaning his apartment, while also putting up the candles that she bought. She also sneaked flowers all over the place, just to set out the romantic mood. After that, she spent the next two hours cooking and trying to make the dishes perfect, constantly checking the clock to make sure she has enough time to clean herself up before Steve gets home, and get her apology ready.

Well, in a perfect world, her plan would have worked out down to the minute. But alas, she doesn't live in a perfect world.

She was mentally cursing herself and putting the steak, which she slightly burned, on a plate when she heard voices arguing by the door, and the lock turning. At that, she let out a small "fuck" while hurriedly opening the oven to get the potatoes that she might have left on there for a little too long.

"Nat? Are you here?" Steve's voice came, a bit distant, which means he's still by the living room.

"Come on, man. Let's go get a drink first. I don't want to come home yet," she heard Sam say. She almost laughed at that. Poor Sam, still trying to make sure he doesn't ruin Natasha's surprise even though he already failed.

"It's okay, Sam, I got it from here," she finally said, standing up and popping her head out the doorway to look at them. She felt bad for using him because Sam looked really guilty about not keeping Steve occupied enough. He nodded and went out the door, closing it after him.

"Nat?" Steve asked again, looking really confused. "What's all this?" he gestured towards the candles, flowers, and food set out on the table.

"Uh… surprise..!?" Natasha sheepishly greeted, but came out as more of a question in the end. Steve cocked an eyebrow at her and she sighed, head dropping dejectedly. "I was going to surprise you for Valentine's Day with a romantic dinner while Sam keeps you busy but I guess that didn't work out," she explained and shrugged.

Steve opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He looked around him. The place was cleaned out well and he's gotta say, he loves all the flower decorations. The effort that Natasha put into this really shows when he glanced down on the table and a DVD of the movie "Valentine's Day" was resting on top of it. He knows that he told Natasha any movie with Jennifer Garner is a good movie, and he likes this particular one as well.

"Um," Natasha's voice broke him out of his reverie. "I'm not exactly done yet so just sit down there and pretend you didn't see any of this!" she let him know and dashed back to the kitchen. Steve chuckled to himself. He was going to offer to help but he knows Natasha, and if she wants to do this, him asking would only annoy her.

He went to their bedroom to change while Natasha was finishing up in the kitchen, and on his way out, she was also going in to get ready and they exchanged smiles. She closed the door behind him, and emerged 20 minutes later, wearing a very tight strapless black dress, hair down in soft curls, and have very light makeup on. Steve glanced up and down at her, gulping. She looks like she's ready for a night out while they're just in their apartment, but he's not complaining.

She approached him while he's sitting on the couch, seeming to tower over him, and grabbed his hand, leading him to the dining table. He continued to stand by the table as she moved away, dimming the lights a bit as she lit up the candles, a soft, glow of red and orange illuminating the dining room. She set their food down and stood in front of him.

"Happy Valentine's Day, babe," she whispered, reaching up to cup his face in her hands.

He smiled warmly at her. "Happy Valentine's Day too, I love you. So much," he told her, hands automatically finding her waist and holding her snugly against him.

"I love you, too. So, so much. I'm sorry for this mor-" Natasha started to apologize, but Steve shook his head and captured her lips in his, not letting her finish her apology.

She kissed him back with a sense of urgency as she sucked on his lower lip then meeting his tongue with hers and rolling them together. Steve groaned, his hands moving lower to cup her but, playing with the hem of her dangerously short dress. Her hands moved to the back of his neck, gripping onto the small hairs there, as Steve maneuvered them until his back hit the back of the couch. His hands travelled under her dress, fingers slowly moving along her inner thigh and slowly teasing her through her underwear. Natasha let out a whimper.

"Steve…" she said in between kisses. "The food…" she pulled away slightly and put her hands on his chest, but his hands stayed where they are. "I worked so hard on that, and if we don't eat it now it won't be good later on," she pouted.

Steve laughed and moved his hands away from where they are, but not without one more teasing touch, which seemed to make Natasha's pout even sharper, and rested them on her hips again. "But can you really blame me? You already deprived me this morning," he protested, imitating her pout.

"Hey, no fair! You know I can't resist that face!" Natasha accused. Steve laughed even harder and just shook his head, letting go of her and leading her towards the dining room. She smiled when he pulled out her chair for her before sitting across from her.

"So, let's taste your cooking skills," he said before trying the steak. Natasha is watching him carefully as he slices the meat and tastes it. The raise of her eyebrow is her unspoken question towards him. "I love it," he said, and he means it. Sure, he knows it's not the best steak he's ever eaten, but this is Natasha's labor of love, and it actually tastes pretty good. She doesn't seem convinced, though, as she takes a taste of her own, suspiciously chewing it.

"You liar, this is bland!" she said once swallowing it.

"Nothing a small amount of salt and pepper can't fix," Steve shrugged and took the shakers to put some salt and pepper on his steak, before handing it to her. "The taste is really up to the one who's eating it, that's why even I put salt and pepper on steaks from restaurants. Ease up, babe, I love your cooking," he reassured her and smiled.

Natasha put salt and pepper on her own food and smiled back, eyes not meeting Steve. She knows damn well that her food is way too bland, but this must be more than true love if Steve is so adamant on saying that he loves it. Bless his kind soul for loving her that much.

"So, did you tell Tony and Pepper about your idea for the gala?" Steve asked before taking another bite of his food.

"Yeah, they agreed to do it," Natasha replied, watching Steve eat curiously. Wow, he seems to really like his food or he's just really hungry.

"Hey that's great! I'm so happy for you, hon. You'll be able to help so many people," he genuinely said and reached across the table to squeeze her hand.

She smiled back at him. Natasha planned to start a nonprofit that would help provide funding and support for Russian orphanages so that they would have more supplies and access to what they need. This way, they can also promote adoption for the kids living there, hopefully helping them find a home, and give parents who are hoping to adopt the opportunity to meet these children. She knows that what she fears for, the Black Widow Program, is pretty much gone, but she wants to make sure that none of these children are being taken advantage of anymore. Steve's been wildly supportive of it, even going with her to Russia one time to do some research. While there, they visited the graves of her parents, and he talked to them, introducing himself as her boyfriend, as asking for their blessing of their relationship. At that moment, Natasha knew she wouldn't love a man as she does Steve.

Once they finished eating, and Steve surprisingly finishing everything, Natasha stood up to clean up. However, Steve scooped her up in his arms bridal style before she grabs something, making her squeal.

"Steve! Put me down!" she protested.

"No!" he chided back and proceeded to carry her to their bedroom and laid her down gently on the bed, where he laid on top of her.

He kissed her slowly, hands grazing along her thigh, teasing, and rests it just by the seam of her dress. Natasha was holding onto his shirt, playing with the buttons and opening them as she tries to use her legs to wrap it around Steve' waist. He laughed at what she was trying to do and used his legs to pin hers down. Natasha frowned, this guy's going on his own time. She could reverse them around right now, but she let him have his fun.

Steve's lips travelled down from her lips to her jaw, where he left small kisses down to a sensitive part on her neck, where he sucked and got an elicit moan from Natasha. He trailed kisses down to her collarbone and her exposed cleavage, but to her frustration, his head went back up to her lips. She was going to protest but he suddenly sat up, taking his shirt and top off, pulling on the seam of her dress, indicating for her to take it off. Natasha sat up and he lifted the dress off of her, leaving her in her panties. Steve gave her a smirk, once again towering on top of her, half naked in his pants.

He dove down to wrap his lips around her right breast, tongue swirling around her nipple as she closed her eyes and pushed her body up against him. His left hand is on her other breast, massaging it, while the other is resting on her leg, tips of his fingers tapping against her inner thigh. She could feel a tent through his pants pressing on her as his knees are on either side of her waist and she so wants to push up, but his hand was firm on keeping her down.

His tongue darted across her chest as it found her other breast and he sucked on it, hungrily, and it drove Natasha wild. Her hands found its way to his back where she's leaving pretty long scratches as she feels a tight coil in her stomach. Steve chuckled at this, the vibrations she felt sending her more pleasure.

His lips moved down to her stomach, where he took time to kiss each and every single little scar, especially the bullet wound she got from Bucky, before reaching her belly. His chin is touching the waistband of his panty as he peppers kisses all over it, and just as she thought he was going to kiss her there, he simply swooped up to kiss her back on the lips and it took everything in her not to kick him off the bed.

"Steeevveeee," she pleaded, a bit desperately, and tried her best to glare at him. She knows he's trying to make her pay for what she did this morning, and sure, she deserves it, but this is downright mean.

"Yes, babe?" he innocently asked, as if not knowing what he's doing.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, but he just shrugged and continued kissing her. This time, his fingers are moving along her thigh, getting closer to her center, until the tip of his finger grazed it and she almost bit down on his lips.

He let out a throaty chuckle and continue to lightly tap her over her panty, watching her squirm and push up to his fingers. Steve gave in when Natasha actually bit his lower lip, intentionally but not enough to make it bleed, and rest his hand over her, pushing in and feeling the dampness of her stick to him. She groaned and closed her eyes. The anticipation has been building in her that she might actually come through just this if Steve doesn't move fast enough.

He kept doing this, just rubbing her off like that as he once again sucked on her breast, and Natasha was actually enjoying it, but she wants more. She pulled on his hair particularly hard and that got his attention, with him looking up at her with her nipples in his mouth. She frowned at him and he had the audacity to smile at her. "Steve I swear if you make me wa-" and he didn't even let her finish when she suddenly felt her panties being literally ripped off into pieces and Steve's tongue making in contact with her clit.

Natasha let out a mewl as Steve's tongue continued to suck on her already swollen clit, hands moving to stretch her out to get all over her. Her hands are gripping onto his hair, and she's thankful for his very high pain tolerance or else he would probably be also screaming with her. He inserted his tongue in her, going in and out at a speed only he is capable of, while his fingers are playing with her clit, and Natasha really thinks she's going to come soon if Steve doesn't stop.

He does, however, stops, and Natasha whimpers at the loss of contact. "Steve…" she blindly searches for him as she feels him pull away from the bed. She slightly opened her eyes to find Steve taking his pants off before going on top of her again.

With what little strength she feels like she has, she flips them around easily and sits on top of him. Steve's hard cock is pressing on her and Natasha bites her lip as she holds on to it, gripping it as she strokes him. His eyes shut close and he lets out a groan. Natasha pulls herself up to lower herself onto him, not stopping until he's fully inside her. Both of them are breathing heavily, and they take a moment to adjust to each other, until Natasha started to move her hips around and grind onto him.

Steve pulled Natasha down to kiss her, and she could taste herself in his mouth, as he thrusts up with quick, hard strides, and she sat up, meeting his thrusts as she pulls herself down, bringing him deeper into him, making the two of them simultaneously groan. Steve can tell that Natasha is so close so he went faster, and with a cry, Natasha let go and came. Steve didn't slow down until he felt himself come inside her and Natasha fall onto his chest, both of them panting heavily.

It took them moments to catch their breath and Steve was still inside her, still partly hard due to his "enhanced stamina". He pulled out moments later, but didn't move as much to not bother Natasha. They lay quietly as Natasha peppers his chest with small kisses on where her head is resting as Steve hugs her tightly.

"How's that for a Valentine's present," Steve said a few minutes later when he could tell Natasha was close to dozing off.

She laughed weakly and propped herself up his chest. "You can be such an asshole," she said and pecked his lips, "but I loved it. I love you," she kissed him again.

"I love you too. And in speaking of which, I actually got you a present." he announced. "Want me to go get it?" he said, about to reach for the nightstand.

"Noooo, let's just stay like this," Natasha protested, a bit childishly.

Steve laughed and hugged her even more tightly against him. "Alright. I guess no present could ever top this anyway," he said and reached for the comforter under him, draping it over them. Natasha lays contempt on top of him, face buried in the crook of his neck. He pressed a kiss on the side of her head, but her hand is sneakily moving in between his legs and he noticed a smirk on her lips before he realizes that sleep is coming way later than he thought.


End file.
